Technological Institute of the Philippines

Department of Chemical Engineering

Principles of Biochemical Engineering

Proposal Title: Reduction of Covid-19 on environmental surfaces through the use of

Pulse Xenon Ultraviolet Light
Proponent(s): Kim Paulo De Guzman

RATIONALE
Our country and the rest of the world including big countries are currently facing with the
newly discovered virus. According to the reports, the largest numbers of Covid-
19 confirmed cases are in the United States, Spain and France. However, even the
countries that the new coronavirus has hit less aggressively are still under much strain.
A lot of scientists are still studying and developing for an effective vaccine to cure those
who are infected with this virus. Since the virus are still spreading all over the world, our
government implements several actions to control the spreading of this virus such as
implementing a total lockdown in Luzon, an Enhanced Community Quarantine of
our country and now some provinces are now under of General Community Quarantine.
Our health workers and health agencies here in our country are always reminding us to
wear face mask, wash our hands, to follow the social distancing, and to disinfect
some things inside the house or even the clothes that we used when we go outside .
The aim of this project is to reduce the bacteria and virus on the surface especially on
those surfaces that are prone in the virus like the hospitals.

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

Cleanliness of the patient environment is an important factor in promoting recovery from
illness. The hospital environment is predisposed to harbor potential pathogens given the
volume of sick patients, the pace and acuity of patient care activities performed by
healthcare workers, and the complexity of hospital surfaces and medical equipment
requiring routine cleaning. Recent attention to the quality of environmental cleaning in
hospitals has revealed that cleaning efforts are often insufficient, leaving microbial
contamination present on surfaces (Carling et al., 2008, Dharan et al., 1999, Carling et
al., 2010). The ability of potential pathogens to persist for long periods of time on
inanimate surfaces has been reviewed previously (Kramer et al., 2006); some
organisms are able to survive weeks to months in the hospital environment (Kramer et
al., 2006). It has also been well documented that patients are at increased risk of
acquiring a multidrug-resistant organism (MDRO) if the previous room occupant was
infected, suggesting transmission via the contaminated environment despite routine
cleaning efforts (Huang et al., 2006, Shaughnessy et al., 2011, Nseir et al., 2011).
One of the effective disinfectants is the use of the Pulse-Xenon Ultraviolet Light. Pulsed
UV light can be used for sanitization, decontamination and sterilization of smooth, dry
surfaces such as aluminum, paper, glass, medical devices and packaging materials with
implementation in clean room pass-through tunnels, and above mail conveyor belts.
Additionally, pulsed UV light can be used for decontamination of rough surfaces found
on food and other surfaces such as laboratory benches and inside safety hoods.
OBJECTIVES
The objective of this study is to reduce the contamination of bacteria and viruses like
Covid-19 on the surfaces. Specifically, the following objectives of the study are:
1. To evaluate the effectiveness of pulsed-xenon ultraviolet light (PX-UV)
disinfection for the reduction of bacteria on environmental surfaces.
2. To evaluate the effect of a pulsed-xenon ultraviolet portable device (PX-UVD) as
compared to standard disinfectant.
METHODOLOGY

The unit is an enclosed air disinfection device, where a pulsed xenon UV lamp is used
as the light source, which can emit a broad spectrum of 200 nm–320 nm. The lamp was
powered by a pulsed power source. The PX-UV system produces a pulsed flash at a
frequency of 30 Hz with an approximate output of 270 J per pulse and a duration of less
than 360 ms. The pulsed xenon UV lamp was placed in the center of a reflective,
aluminum-covered chamber to continuously purify the air. The air flows through the
processing chamber with an internal cross-flow fan with a flow rate of 5.4 m 3/min. In this
case, the cross-flow fan has two functions: (1) driving the air into the device and (2)
cooling the pulsed xenon UV lamp. The reflectivity of the aluminum is proposed to
enhance the light reflection efficiency and increase the time that the pulsed light is in
contact with the air, thereby improving the germicidal activity of the apparatus. The air
outlet was made in the form of shutters to block UV radiation.

REFERENCES
https://bmcinfectdis.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12879-019-4200-3
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1572100019303564
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5824029/
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/1471-2334-14-187